Long Lane is a main east–west road in Southwark, south

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Route

The south side of the medieval-founded St George the Martyr church, of high classical 1730s design, adjoins the street before its western ending. East of the church is a paved, tree-studded, pedestrianised zone before park St Georges Gardens, the successor to its churchyard. This was the church where Little Dorrit (in Dickens's ''Little Dorrit'') was baptised and married. Dickens in reality lodged one block southwest as a child in

Lant Street Lant Street is a street south of Marshalsea Road in Southwark, south London, England.Lant Street Association ...

when his father was in the

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, ...

debtors' prison during 1824. It was a traumatic period of his life. A few metres north of the lane's "London" end (so along Great Dover Street) are steps to Borough tube station. Just before its western end, a T-junction with

Great Dover Street Great Dover Street is a road in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough Underground station is at this location. At the southeast ...

, it has the north end of the modernised but medieval route of that street,

Tabard Street A tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more develope ...

, which is a Georgian renaming of the London conclusion of the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

(its conclusion can otherwise be considered bustling Borough High Street/London Bridge beyond, all piling in the traffic to the city from Surrey and Sussex). A few metres north, Great Dover Street has its final crossroads, crossing

Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues southwest ...

to face Marshalsea Road which links to

Southwark Bridge Road Southwark Bridge Road is a road in Southwark, London, England, between Newington Causeway near Elephant and Castle and Southwark Bridge across the River Thames, leading to the City of London, in a meandering route. The road was created by con ...

Road numbering

The road is designated the A2198. At the east end, via Abbey Street is a crossroads, crossing

Tower Bridge Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although t ...

(the A100). Before giving over to Abbey Street most traffic is signposted to and from

Bermondsey Street Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

(the A2205) which is further east.

History

Long Lane originally led from the site of Bermondsey Abbey to the High Street by St George's Church. It was created by the Priory/ Abbey to connect its Bermondsey landholding to that of the southern end of the High Street and to its manor on the western side of Southwark which later became known as

St George's Fields St George's Fields was an area of Southwark in south London, England. History Originally the area was an undifferentiated part of the south side of the Thames, which was low-lying marshland unsuitable even for agricultural purposes. There ...

sometime from 1104. The land to the north of Long Lane was called

Snow Fields Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

in the eighteenth century and a street of that name runs through the same area. There have been archaeological excavations alongside Long Lane.

Incidents

* On 9 January 2008, a 16-year-old was stabbed on a nearby street named Porlock Street.

References

External links